World Lens is a program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Language Institute and Wisconsin Film Festival, a public program of the Arts Institute.
Tuesday, March 28
7:00pm
Play Circle Theater
Memorial Union
800 Langdon Street
The Language Institute and the Wisconsin Film Festival are starting the festivities early this year with a sneak preview of Global Shorts: Five Films, a spellbinding collection of shorts from around the world!
No tickets necessary.
This screening is free and open to the public.
Immediately following the screening there will be a brief panel discussion with UW-Madison faculty.
Panelists:
Aliko Songolo, Department of French and Italian and Department of African Languages and Literature
Glen Close, Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Steven Clark, Department of East Asian Languages and Literature
Mark Kenoyer, Department of Anthropology and Center for South Asia.
World Lens is made possible with generous support from the Evjue Foundation, the Brittingham Fund, and the Schoenleber Fund.
Global Shorts
"The intrinsic beauty of each of these stories, enhanced by their colors, shapes and cultural textures, creates a rich mosaic of the human experience." --The Global Film Initiative
Elephants Never Forget
Directed by Lorenzo Vigas Castes
Venezuela, 2004
13 minutes
In Spanish with English subtitles
Debut filmmaker Vigas Castes focuses intently on the faces of a teenage brother and sister pair who leave their house on a grim mission: to kill their abusive father who abandoned the family when they were toddlers. Brother and sister find themselves in a truck close to their father, Pedro, who seems to be an amiable man offering tangerines to his traveling companions. Pedro brags of his elephantine memory and his inability to forget a face. Will Pedro’s son be able to pull the trigger after looking his father in the face? Winner, 2004 Semaine International de la Critique; Festival de Cannes; 2004 Best Fiction Film, Festival de Curtas de Rio de Janeiro; 2005 New Directors New Films, Lincoln Center Society and MoMA.
Little Terrorist
Directed by Ashvin Kumar
India, 2004
15 min
Hindi with English subtitles
Official Site
To children national borders might seem like arbitrary lines in the sand. Young Jamal, played by gifted actor Julfuqar Ali, accidentally takes a day trip across the Pakistani-Indian border after his cricket ball rolls into a borderland minefield. Only steps away from his kin, he nonetheless is in another country, with different customs, religion, and hairstyles. An old orthodox Hindu man finds Jamal and offers him refuge in his house. At first, differences in traditions and religion lead to misunderstandings and hurt feelings, but humanity triumphs and the Hindu and his niece come up with an ingenious way to camouflage Muslim Jamal when the border patrol conducts a house-to-house search. Ashvin Kumar offers a heartening story that questions our tendency to draw lines in the sand. “In 15 minutes, the film builds genuine and poignant drama.”—Roger Ebert. Nominated, 2005 Academy Awards; nominated, Best Short Film Award, European Film Award; Winner, 2004 Best Short Film, Montréal World Film Festival.
Harvest Time
Directed by Zheng Zheng
China, 2004
36 minutes
Chinese with English Subtitles
Lonely and a little misfit, Xiaosong graduates from college and returns to his rural village. As he reconnects with his former classmates, he finds them content and successful. Filmmaker Zheng offers beautiful vistas of large swaths of Chinese countryside and reveals the painful uncertainty experienced by some recent college graduates. Winner, 2004 Organization Committee Special Prize; Peking College Students Film Festival; 2005 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.
More Than The World
Directed by Lautaro Nuñez de Arco
Argentina, 2004
12 min
Spanish with English subtitles
Talented filmmaker and screenwriter Nuñez de Arco (Mercano the Martian, featured in the UW Cinematheque’s fall 2005 program), offers a charming and story of a boy and his loyal canine. Marito falls in love with a young girl, enraging her father who steps in violently. Audiences will appreciate this tender story of passion and loyalty. Even the coldest hearts will melt upon hearing Marito’s words, “I love you more than the world.” Winner, 2005 Silver Condor, Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards; 2004 Best Short Film Director, Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente; 2004 Best Short Film, Huelva Latin American Film Festival.
Source of History
Directed by Adama Roamba
Burkina Faso,
2003
22 minutes
In French with English subtitles
After witnessing the brutal murder of his parents, Sergeant Toe joins a rebel army to fight against government forces in an unnamed African country. Sergeant Toe mobilizes troops, demonstrates keen military strategy and wins the respect and trust of seasoned colonels—all at the age of 11. With his loud boyish voice and determined little face he fiercely defends the childhood of others by demanding that his soldiers never hurt the innocent. Near their military unit is a small village where parents lovingly yell at their children to get out of bed and where young girls and boys pretend to marry each other using horses as witnesses. Sergeant Toe’s unit is ordered to attack the peaceful community and in the ensuing melee the influence of young Toe over his comrades is revealed. “Mama, as I promised you, no child will suffer the same fate as me.” Winner, 2003 Best Short Film, FESPACO; 2003 Best Short Film, Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival.
World Lens is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in partnership with The Global Film Initiative to promote understanding of world cultures.
Global Shorts: Five Films is part of the Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens series.
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